How to Register…

The nice lady looked up from our papers, smiled, and said ,

          ”Vota Registration….  now y’all jes go down the hall to the Eeelection Board and see Emma, she’ll take good care of ya “……

          She paused for a moment then continued,

           “Oh ma Heavens! They’re all jammed up ‘cause early votin’s  starten today! Y’all never get near the place! Y’all have ta come back after the eeelections are ova.”

          I haven’t applied for a driver license in 48 years so I guess I don’t have a lot of experience in this regard.

          That was in New Jersey.

          This is Texas.

          At the risk of offending my new neighbors I will confess that I just do not get their system.

Let me explain,

          Apparently, you need to register a vehicle in Texas before you can apply for a Drivers License. What if you don’t have a vehicle?

          Are you not allowed to have a license?

          We figured that we would apply to transfer our licenses and title the motorhome at the same time.

          Nope.

          License plates are handled by the County Tax Offices and Driver Licenses are dispatched from the Texas Division of Public Safety.

          Not even closely related.

          Down we went to the County Tax Office and tried to register the motorhome and get a Texas Title. We were told that we need to prove residency. You know, mail at your address, utility bills, leases, or some other land ownership papers. This is all well and good, but we hadn’t received any forwarded mail yet, nor are we leasing anything or have any utility bills!

          So, we thanked the nice lady in the Tax Office and tucked our papers back into our little folder, walked down the hallway, (past Emma and her long line) and back outside the Courthouse.

          Pausing out on the street and staring at the end of the very long “early voting” line we realized that all of the official stuff that we needed to do would have to be postponed.

          But who cares?

          No one!

          It’s Covid Time!

          Extensions are handed out like tissues in kindergarten after recess on a chilly day.

          So we didn’t worry (or “fret none” in the local parlance). We proceeded with our plans and went out the next day in search of what would eventually end up as is our Honda CRV. When we bought the Honda, the salesman, Javier, (you remember him) told us that the Dealership handles all of the titling aspects of the deal, we practically jumped for joy! Maybe we could “back” our way into a registration! If all we need was a registration to get our license, then we were golden!

          Not so fast there Pecos Pete!

          What we did not know was that it would take 4 weeks for this to transpire and in the meantime, they lost our ”tags” (license plates are called tags down south) and registration. We decided to push on and since Eeelection Day had passed we decided to go and give Emma a visit.

          Nice ol’ lady bless her heart. She handed us a form each to fill out. Name, address, and the last 4 digits of our Social Security numbers.

          That’s it?

          No proof of where we live?

          No credit card bills, leases, or utility bills?

          A note from our parents?

          Nothing???

          Nope.

          She just handed us our new Voter Registration Cards which proved that we were residents of these here parts.

          So we did what any self-respectin’, varmint kickin’ new resident would do.

          We went down the hall to the nice lady in the Tax Office and armed with our new Official Pieces of Paper, registered our motor home in the Great State of Texas!